Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine helps in the diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases. It uses very small amounts of radioactive medicine to see how different parts of the body look and work. This medicine is called a radiopharmaceutical.

The medicine carries the radioactive material and travels to a particular organ in the body. A special camera is used to observe where in the body the pharmaceutical has gone.  Different radiopharmaceuticals are used to look at different parts of the body. Depending on the type of test your child is having done, radiopharmaceuticals are given by mouth, intravenous injection, or through breathing.

Safety

Radiopharmaceuticals are carefully tested and have a very low risk of side effects or allergic reactions. The amount of radioactivity used is carefully determined by the Nuclear Medicine doctors.

Support

Our hospital uses the CARD (Comfort Ask Relax Distract) system to make medical procedures more comfortable and positive for children and families. Children select strategies from the different letter categories (C-A-R-D). This can include distraction items (either brought from home or distraction items available in the hospital) and medicine to numb the skin (topical anaesthetic).

Our department uses a topical anaesthetic cream that takes about 30 minutes to work. Your child will be offered this cream and asked about their coping preferences using the CARD Checklist (PDF) at the start of the appointment.

Procedures